is a candy which is made and sold by Seika Foods in
Kagoshima
, abbreviated to , is the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Located at the southwestern tip of the island of Kyushu, Kagoshima is the largest city in the prefecture by some margin. It has been nicknamed the "Naples of the Eastern wor ...
. Similar to a
rice cake
A rice cake may be any kind of food item made from rice that has been shaped, condensed, or otherwise combined into a single object. A wide variety of rice cakes exist in many different cultures in which rice is eaten and are particularly preval ...
, it is made of
maltose starch syrup,
nori
Nori is a dried edible seaweed used in Japanese cuisine, made from species of the red algae genus '' Pyropia'', including ''P. yezonesis'' and '' P. tenera''. It has a strong and distinctive flavor, and is often used to wrap rolls of sushi or ...
, powdered
green tea, soybean flour, and white bean paste. It is shaped into a small cube and wrapped in a thin film of edible starch. Hyōrokumochi can be bought at stores throughout
Kyushu.
History
In 1931, Kagoshima Seika, the predecessor of Seika Foods, started to sell these candy.
Hyōrokumochi was named after ''Ōishi Hyōroku Yumemonogatari'', a Kagoshima book written by Japanese writer Mōri Masanao.
On the box, there is the picture of a young soldier from Kagoshima wearing a
fundoshi
is a traditional Japanese undergarment for adult males and females, made from a length of cotton.
Before World War II, the was the main form of underwear for Japanese men and women. However, it fell out of use quickly after the war with the ...
, the traditional Japanese undergarment for adult males, made from a length of cotton. At first the company was unable to obtain permission for the packet because the man's bottom is bare. However Seika Foods insisted that the fundoshi hides everything that needs to be hidden, and so permission was granted.
It is currently imported to
North America from
Japan by
JFC International.
See also
*
Botan Rice Candy
Botan Rice Candy is a specific brand of a category of Japanese candy called bontan ame (ボンタンアメ). Bontan ame are soft, chewy, citrus-flavored candy with an outer layer of rice paper or Oblaat. The rice paper is clear and plastic-like ...
External links
SeikaFoods
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hyorokumochi
Wagashi